08Jan14
We learned five new things about Chile today, so we thought we’d pass them on. They’re from an excellent free walking tour in Santiago that we highly recommend. The same company offers a walking tour in Valparaíso which we plan on checking out.
Before I share, let me tell you what you’re seeing in the photo above. These two street dogs met up with our group across from the presidential palace about 20 minutes into the tour. They stayed with the group the whole time – nearly three hours. The guide said sometimes one of the dogs follows him home. The lighter one in the background went for a romp in the fountain after barking at random people passing by for no apparent reason.
OK, here’s what we learned:
The coffee shops where all the servers are women wearing short dresses? Those aren’t a coincidence! Remember how we went to this stand-up espresso bar where the women wear ultra-short, ultra-tight dresses and it’s mostly male patrons? Chris was convinced they’re the Chilean version of Hooters…and he was right. They are referred to as café con piernas or “coffee with legs.” Some of the racier ones have blacked out windows.
The native people are actively uprising. The Mapuche are the original, pre-Spanish inhabitants of Chile. They are still 10 percent of the Chilean population — and there are areas in southern, rural areas where Mapuche are still in active conflict with Chile.
A law was recently passed to penalize people for abandoning dogs. There are a lot of street dogs in Santiago, but they are relatively clean, well-fed, and many are neutered. People in the neighborhoods take care of them. They’re everyone’s dogs. Still, they are trying to reduce the amount of animal abandonment.
We knew Chile had been under a dictatorship, but we didn’t fully understand the details. And it’s wild to think that it was still going on during our (early) lifetimes. In any case, the 1973 coup ultimately came down to: “the economy, stupid.”
Chile is still rebuilding after a massive earthquake four years ago. There were still a few large buildings undergoing final reconstruction efforts after a massive 8.8 earthquake in 2010.
Now you’re ready to play Jeopardy.
